#florida parks service

[ausetkmt]

A Florida plantation that had slaves still stands today | wtsp.com

Tucked away on the side of a busy Manatee County road stands the vestige of a defining era in American history.

At its peak, the Gamble Plantation enslaved 190 men, women and children. Federal documents say they ranged in age from two months to 105 years old.

Their stories are not well known. In fact, few locals are even aware of a slave plantation in the Tampa Bay region.

Some historians say it's intentional.

A descendant says it's time for change.

Chandra's Gamble 'This is my history'

One of Chandra Carty's first visits to the Gamble Plantation was during her time as a high school student in Manatee County. 

"We didn't call it a plantation, we called it a mansion. I didn't know it was a plantation until maybe, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago," Carty, who is in her 60s, said. "Growing up, this was a mansion. So, they obscured what really happened here."

Interstate signs leading to the site make no mention of a plantation — only a mansion. It's only upon arrival that a sign reads, "Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Monument" at Gamble Plantation State Historic Park.

"How would the word change from plantation?" Carty asked.

However, Carty's quest for more information about the Gamble Plantation goes beyond the name. A family research project revealed she has direct connections to the site. Her great-great grandmother, Mariah, married Nelson Burton, who was enslaved at the plantation.

"The Manatee County historical records show in 1872, two freed ex-slaves being married, and that's where our family history picks up," she said.

It's history Carty and others who study the site say is missing from the Gamble Plantation, which now as a state park focuses heavily on its Confederate themes and memorial to Confederate cabinet member Judah P. Benjamin. He served as Secretary of State to the Confederacy and stayed at the plantation for a brief time on his escape from the country at the end of the Civil War.

"To be in line with how contemporary historians, contemporary museums, anthropologists try to interpret these public heritage sites, there needs to be a significant push to foreground the stories of the enslaved laborers here," Dr. Diane Wallman, associate professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, said.

"As you know, somebody who studies history, and believes in, you know, the thorough and full telling of history, it makes me sad that the stories of particular people that lived here, died here, worked here, are not being told," she said.

Currently, there is little on the site that mentions the experiences of the enslaved. A visit to the plantation's information center does have a typewritten list of the names of all those enslaved. However, unlike other displays, there is no museum label to describe its significance.

"I want to see when I go into the little information booth, to see the story of specific slaves, to see Nelson Burton's story, because life is a story," Carty said. "We need to tell the story the best that we can. Where did the slaves live? What did their day to day activity consist of?"

A big Gamble The rise and fall of the Gamble Plantation

In the early 1840s, Robert Gamble of Tallahassee, Fla., used slave labor to establish a sugar plantation on about 3,500 acres of land along the Manatee River. 

Federal documents show he came to the area under the Florida Armed Occupation Act, which gave away 160 acres of land to settlers willing to develop the area and battle indigenous inhabitants.

According to paperwork filed with the National Park Service, those enslaved to Gamble lived in 57 slave cabins on the plantation. They are credited for the success of the plantation and sugar mill. 

Unable to keep up with "natural disasters and a fickle sugar market," information from Florida State Parks says Gamble was driven into debt by 1856 and sold the plantation in 1859.

A path forward Reconciling past with present

Documents filed with the National Park Service show in the 1920s, the United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased the Gamble Plantation mansion, restored it and made it a Confederate shrine.

10 investigates got records going back to the 1970s that show the UDC made an agreement with the state to limit the plantation's interpretation mostly to its Confederate themes.

When a state park leader proposed changes, he faced resistance. 

"There was pushback from the state government level. There's letters from senators...supporting the UDC and folks and trying to keep this focused on the Confederacy Judah P. Benjamin and Robert Gamble," Wallman said. "it's come up in the 90s, it's come up again now, where we're trying to have these conversations about expanding the narrative here and making it more inclusive."

John Sims, the late Sarasota-based artist who based some of his last projects on reimagining parts of the Gamble Plantation said he would like to see a memorial to the enslaved at the site.

“The state should consider…funding and even through legislation being able to support efforts to memorialize the history of enslaved folks and their relationship to the various slave plantations in the state of Florida,” the late Sarasota-based artist John Sims told 10 Investigates’ Emerald Morrow before his death in December 2022.

“Let’s look at some of these former slave plantations as places that really belong to all of us, particularly descendants of African slaves who have occupied those spaces,” Sims said.

Requests for on-camera interviews with the Judah P. Benjamin chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy were denied, but member Evelyn Hoskins said she believes others will be open to doing more at the Gamble Plantation to honor the enslaved.

"We are all looking for answers," she said. "The slaves were just as much of the Gamble story as anyone else."

10 Investigates also reached out to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the Gamble Plantation Historic State Park. A spokesperson denied our request for an interview, but said in a statement:

"The Florida Park Service is committed to providing resource-based recreation while preserving, interpreting and restoring natural and cultural resources, and the agency strives to do this in a positive and appropriate manner.

"Our agency is always evaluating how we communicate Florida's unique history across all state parks, including at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park."

Carty remains optimistic. She said her focus’s is not on removing what’s at the site. Instead, she wants to include what’s missing.

"I just want the complete story because this is my history," Carty said. "Why would I tear down my history? Nelson had to build this? Why would I destroy?"

So, she's calling on the UDC, the state park, lawmakers and even the governor to push a more balanced version of history—one she never wants to be forgotten. 

"I'm feeling hopeful," Carty said. "Hopeful that some I see the image of Nelson...the image of Mariah, and they say, 'job well done.' You finally got our story out so everybody can understand what it was like living here."

[wandering-jana]

Got bored, went for a road trip: Live Naval Oaks Nature Preserve, Pensacola. This preserve caught on fire within an hour of me leaving. I swear I had no involvement.

Oct. 8, 2023

[rocketaggarbatty11]

Discover the Best Online Parking Services at Jet Parking DSM Airport| SpotFinder USA

Embark on your journey with ease and confidence, courtesy of the premier online parking services at Jet Parking Des Moines Airport (DSM) with SpotFinder , featuring the cutting-edge convenience of SpotFinder. Simplifying your travel experience, SpotFinder empowers you to secure your parking spot hassle-free, ensuring a stress-free start to your trip.

With SpotFinder, say farewell to the uncertainties of parking availability. Effortlessly reserve your spot in advance, sparing yourself the inconvenience of last-minute searches and providing you with the assurance of a guaranteed space upon arrival. At Jet Parking DSM, our commitment to excellence extends beyond convenience. Rest assured knowing that your vehicle is safeguarded in our secure facilities, monitored around the clock for your peace of mind.

Experience the pinnacle of customer service with our attentive team, dedicated to delivering a superior parking experience from reservation to departure. Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, Jet Parking DSM and SpotFinder combine to offer unmatched convenience and reliability, ensuring your journey starts and ends on a high note.

Don't leave your parking to chance. Opt for the best online parking services at Jet Parking DSM with SpotFinder, and enjoy a seamless travel experience that exceeds your expectations. Book your spot today and embark on your next adventure with confidence.

To know more-

[balmyzephers01]

rv park consulting

Elevate your RV park with professional RV management services. We handle the details, so you can relax and enjoy your property to the fullest.

rv management services ,rv park management company ,rv park consulting ,rv resort management company ,rv management company ,

[sabistarphotos]

February 8, 2023

Fort Matanzas, Florida

[xtruss]

Florida’s Vanishing Sparrows

A group of eccentric endangered birds serves as a bellwether of the climate crisis.

— By Dexter Filkins |July 17, 2023

The survival of the Florida grasshopper sparrow is in doubt, but the scientists who are working to help the species refuse to give up.Photograph from Nature Picture Library/Alamy

The Avon Park Air Force Range, in central Florida, is a noisy place. Most weeks, American pilots practice dropping bombs and firing rockets there, turning old Humvees into clouds of scrap metal and smoke. Last month, a crowd gathered at the range to listen for the song of the Florida grasshopper sparrow—a faint chittering noise that evokes an insect’s buzz, giving the bird its name. As the crowd looked on expectantly, a group of tiny birds, small enough to fit in your palm, ventured tentatively from a pen, looked into the sunshine, and then flew away. The grasshopper sparrow, a modest and eccentric creature that inhabits the prairies of the central and southern parts of the state, is considered the most endangered bird in the continental United States. The birds at the bombing range were part of a program to bring their species back from the brink. “It will be hard, but we think this sparrow is worth saving,” Angela Tringali, a researcher at Archbold Biological Station, which is involved in the effort, told me.

With its subtropical climate, Florida hosts a vast array of wildlife that exists nowhere else in the county. But years of relentless human population growth have driven many to the vanishing point: Florida is home to sixty-seven species of threatened and endangered animals, among the highest numbers in the continental U.S. Those include the Miami blue butterfly, the Everglade snail kite, and the Florida panther, of which fewer than two hundred and fifty remain.

Birds that nest on or near the ground—like the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and the grasshopper sparrow—are especially vulnerable. Grasshopper sparrows can fly, but they spend most of their lives on the ground, nesting in clumps of tall grass. This provides easy access to the insects that they eat (though it also makes them susceptible to predators, like skunks and snakes). As more and more people moved to Florida, their habitat—in the prairies that used to cover much of the state south of Orlando—gave way to shopping centers and housing tracts.

For decades, scientists watched the sparrows’ numbers slowly ebb. In 1986, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared them endangered; by the end of the century, there were thought to be fewer than a thousand left. Shortly after that, the population began dropping precipitously, and by 2012 as few as seventy-five males remained. Beyond habitat loss, the reasons for the steep decline weren’t entirely clear, though some scientists suspected fire ants, an invasive species. “We started to panic,” Mary Peterson, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said.

As the sparrows approached extinction, Peterson and other scientists decided that they couldn’t risk letting the bird continue to breed only in the wild. After identifying three concentrations of birds in protected habitats, and one on a private ranch, they gathered what adults they could and began breeding them in captivity around the state. Captive breeding is generally considered a last resort—some species of birds and other animals don’t survive it. But, Peterson said, “the risk of not doing anything could be catastrophic.” The scientists released their first batch of youngsters, a dozen birds, in 2019. Since then, they have bred and released more than seven hundred. In a good year, about a quarter of the chicks survive to adulthood in the wild; the release at the Avon Park bombing range last week brought the estimated number of birds to about two hundred and fifty.

The Avon Park range appears to be an especially promising venue for the birds. With more than a hundred thousand acres, it contains more than a dozen other threatened and endangered species. Twenty years ago, before populations collapsed, it was home to about three hundred grasshopper sparrows. The Department of Defense has proved to be an eager partner in preservation: Charles (Buck) MacLaughlin, the range operations officer, told me that the Air Force and the Fish and Wildlife Service periodically survey the landscape, when there aren’t air strikes scheduled. “I don’t think any have been killed there,” he told me.

Still, the survival of the grasshopper sparrow is in doubt. “Extinction is still a possibility,” Peterson said. The scientists aim to create ten protected sites of at least fifty breeding pairs each—a goal that is many years away, at best. The challenge is less in breeding sufficient numbers than in finding space for them; some ninety per cent of the bird’s historic habitat is gone. There are similar stories throughout the state. The Florida panther is making a modest comeback, but it’s constrained by human presence in the Everglades; last year, some twenty-five panthers were killed by cars. In the oceans off the coast, temperatures of ninety-plus degrees threaten coral reefs. But the scientists who are working to help the grasshopper sparrow refuse to give up. Tringali, the biologist, told me, “It’s really easy to do nothing. We are not done. We have a long way to go.” ♦

[govpubsfinds]

"Save Our Tails!”

Learn the history of Florida’s roadside attractions and how retired mermaids fought to keep the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Show alive.

“During World War II, tourism was declared ‘an essential industry for entertainment of service men and women in the state.’ Many of the veterans who had been stationed in Florida returned there to settle after the war. Weeki Wachee Springs was opened in 1947 by an industrious Navy frogman instructor who had experimented with underwater breathing techniques. Combining the natural beauty of the crystal clear water, the drama of theater, and the draw of dazzling young swimmers, the attraction was dubbed the ‘City of Mermaids’ (Figure 1).”

“Of Mice and Mermaids: The Fight to Save Florida’s Early Roadside Attractions” by Sherry Anderson, from 

Van Damme, L., Randl, C., Slaton, D., United States. National Park Service., Historic Preservation Education Foundation. (2006). Preserve and play: preserving historic recreation and entertainment sites. Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Education Foundation. Full text available via HathiTrust.

Primo link to the UW Catalog.

[plethoraworldatlas]

The Miami-Dade County Mayor’s office issued a memorandum today recommending that the county commissioners rescind the development lease agreement with Miami Wilds LLC for a proposed water park development in an environmentally sensitive area at Zoo Miami.

The memo also recommends the withdrawal of a commission agenda item regarding the project that is set for a vote at the Dec. 12 county commission meeting.

The memorandum from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s office concludes that the development lease agreement with Miami Wilds LLC will likely need to be rescinded to best safeguard the county’s interests and the community’s needs and objectives.

“We’re thrilled to support Mayor Levine Cava’s recommendation to rescind the lease for Miami Wilds,” said Mike Daulton, executive director at Bat Conservation International. “We trust the county commissioners will echo this sentiment by voting the project down and protecting the critically endangered Florida bonneted bat and Miami’s natural assets. We’ll be watching closely on Dec. 12 and expecting the commissioners to do the right thing for the environment and Miami-Dade taxpayers.”

“We’re so grateful to Mayor Cava for standing up for the environment with her recommendation to the county commission to rescind the lease,” said Tropical Audubon Society senior conservation director Lauren Jonaitis. “We fervently hope the commissioners follow the mayor’s lead. It will be great to begin working together again to permanently protect these environmentally sensitive lands.”

Today’s memo comes weeks before a scheduled federal court hearing and decision on conservation groups’ claims that the National Park Service violated environmental laws when it released land-use restrictions on the environmentally sensitive site.

[simply-irritable]

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

[heritageparkinn]

Discover the Best Affordable Hotels in Kissimmee for Comfortable and Economical Stays

Planning a visit to Kissimmee, Florida, and looking for the best affordable hotels that offer both comfort and value? Look no further! Kissimmee, located in Central Florida, is a prime destination for travelers seeking a magical experience near world-renowned theme parks and attractions like Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort. While the city boasts an array of accommodation options, finding the perfect balance between comfort and affordability is essential to make the most of your trip.

In this article, we have listed the best affordable hotels in Kissimmee that ensure a comfortable and economical stay without compromising on quality. These hotels offer various amenities, convenient locations and budget friendly prices, making them suitable choices for families, and solo travelers.

Comfort Inn & Suites Maingate South

Located just minutes away from Walt Disney World Resort, Comfort Inn & Suites Maingate South is an excellent choice for budget-conscious travelers seeking convenience and comfort. This hotel offers spacious rooms equipped with modern amenities such as flat-screen TVs, mini-fridges, and free Wi-Fi. Guests can take advantage of the complimentary hot breakfast buffet before heading out for a day of adventure. The hotel also features a heated outdoor pool, fitness center, and free shuttle service to the nearby theme parks. With its affordable rates and proximity to the main attractions, Comfort Inn & Suites Maingate South provides a perfect blend of value and convenience.

Quality Inn & Suites by the Parks 

For those looking for an affordable hotel with a prime location, Quality Inn & Suites by the Parks is an excellent option. Situated near Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort, this hotel offers comfortable rooms equipped with microwaves, mini-fridges, and flat-screen TVs. Guests can enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast to fuel their day of exploration. The hotel features an outdoor pool, hot tub, and a game room, providing ample opportunities for relaxation and entertainment. The friendly staff and convenient amenities make Quality Inn & Suites by the Parks a great choice.

Red Lion Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista South 

With its affordable rates and modern accommodations, Red Lion Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista South is a popular choice for travelers visiting Kissimmee. The hotel offers spacious and well-appointed rooms, featuring plush bedding, flat-screen TVs, and mini-fridges. Guests can start their day with a delicious breakfast at the onsite restaurant or grab a quick snack at the convenience store. The hotel boasts a large outdoor pool, a fitness center, and a game room, ensuring that guests have plenty of options for relaxation and entertainment. Red Lion Hotel's convenient location, just a short drive away from Walt Disney World Resort and other attractions, makes it an ideal choice for both families and business travelers looking for a comfortable and budget-friendly stay.

Heritage Park Inn

Accommodations at Heritage Park Inn are designed to cater to the needs of every guest. The best hotel in Kissimmee Florida offers a range of room types, including standard rooms, suites, and family rooms, ensuring that there is an option suitable for individuals, couples, and families alike. The rooms are equipped with modern amenities, including a flat-screen TV, a mini-fridge, and a coffee maker.

One of the highlights of this hotel is its fantastic location. It is situated just 1.1 miles away from Osceola County Stadium, making it an ideal choice for sports enthusiasts. Additionally, being only 1.4 miles from Silver Spur Rodeo Arena adds to the hotel's appeal for those looking to experience some thrilling rodeo action. With its budget-friendly rates, convenient location, and welcoming atmosphere, Heritage Park Inn is a great choice for travelers seeking affordability and comfort in Kissimmee.

Baymont by Wyndham Kissimmee

Nestled in the heart of Kissimmee, Baymont by Wyndham offers affordable accommodations with easy access to major theme parks and popular attractions. The hotel features comfortable rooms with amenities such as flat-screen TVs, microwaves, and mini-fridges. Guests can enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast each morning and take advantage of the outdoor pool and fitness center to unwind after a long day of exploration. The hotel also provides a shuttle service to Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando, further enhancing its value for guests. 

Takeaway

When planning a visit to Kissimmee, finding a comfortable and economical hotel is key to ensuring a memorable trip. The aforementioned hotels, including Comfort Inn & Suites Maingate South, Quality Inn & Suites by the Parks, Red Lion Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista South, and Baymont by Wyndham Kissimmee, offer a combination of affordability, comfort, and convenient amenities. From complimentary breakfasts to outdoor pools and shuttle services, these hotels provide the perfect balance for budget-conscious travelers. By choosing one of these affordable options, you can enjoy a comfortable and economical stay, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the magic of Kissimmee and its surrounding attractions.

[renewaline]

Sewer Restoration Services: Bringing Your Pipes Back to Life

Renewaline offers Sewer Restoration Services in Orange Park to help restore your sewer system's function and longevity. Our experienced technicians use the latest equipment to inspect your sewer system and locate the source of the issue, then provide a comprehensive restoration solution tailored to your needs. We offer 24/7 emergency service for urgent sewer system repairs. Contact us today to get started.

[rocketaggarbatty11]

Discovering the best Online Parking Services at Travelodge San Francisco Airport North (SFO) with SpotFinder

Discover the epitome of convenience with SpotFinder, the best online parking service provider at Travelodge San Francisco Airport North (SFO). SpotFinder simplifies the parking process, offering travelers a hassle-free solution to their parking needs.

With SpotFinder, finding online parking at Travelodge San Francisco Airport North is a breeze. Our user-friendly platform allows you to effortlessly reserve your spot, eliminating the stress of last-minute searches and uncertainties. From covered parking to valet services, SpotFinder offers a range of options tailored to suit your preferences.

Experience peace of mind knowing that your parking is taken care of with SpotFinder's secure online booking system. Receive real-time updates and reminders about your reservation, ensuring a seamless experience from start to finish.

Say goodbye to parking woes and hello to convenience with SpotFinder at Travelodge San Francisco Airport North (SFO). Book your parking spot today and enjoy a stress-free travel experience like never before.

To know more -

[balmyzephers01]

stay and go rv park marianna florida

Experience the epitome of RV luxury at Marianna RV Resort. Alliance Hill and Stay N Go RV Resort offer premium RV experiences in Marianna, FL.

alliance hill rv resort marianna ,alliance hill rv resort marianna florida ,marianna rv resort ,stay n go rv resort ,stay and go rv park marianna florida ,

[ecoorganic]

The Art of Landscaping: A Guide to Transform Your Outdoor Space

The Art of Landscaping When it comes to transforming your outdoor space, there’s no limit to what you can achieve with the right landscaping techniques. Whether you’re looking to create a serene retreat, an entertainment paradise, or simply a beautiful and functional outdoor area, landscaping can help you get there. Understanding the Basics of Landscaping Before diving into the world of…

[quercus-dude]

Interviewing for a park ranger job on the 6th. Pay isn’t the greatest but it sure would be great to have a job that gets me outside

[theoutcastrogue]

Cartoon depictions of the homeless increasingly reflect the hostility of today’s political leaders toward people on the streets. We’ve gone from images of charming hobos with bindles to zombies taking over cities. If you consume any news at all, you’ve probably noticed that the United States is pathologically cruel to its homeless citizens. This May, the brutal killing of Jordan Neely—who was strangled to death, at the age of 30, simply because he was unhoused and shouting on the Manhattan subway—captured the national spotlight, but it was just one of many such cases of unprovoked violence. In January, two cops reportedly kidnapped a homeless man in Hialeah, Florida, drove him to an “isolated and dark location,” and beat him unconscious. That same month, art dealer Shannon Collier Gwin faced battery charges after he sprayed a homeless woman with a hose outside his San Francisco gallery, barking “Move! Move!” at her. (Predictably, Gwin got a lenient plea deal of just 35 hours of community service.) Elsewhere in the city, homeless San Franciscans have been attacked with chemical bear spray on at least eight occasions. Other assaults have been more impersonal but no less vicious. On July 14, the city of Houston abruptly closed its only public cooling center in the downtown area, potentially condemning anyone without shelter to suffer heatstroke in 90-degree weather. Among the property-owning class, the phenomenon of hostile architecture—sidewalks with spikes that stab anyone who tries to sleep, benches with iron bars, and the like—has become de rigueur. The widespread callousness and lack of compassion are both infuriating and hard to comprehend. How on Earth, we might ask, did things get this bad? [...]

Looking back at older cartoons, one of the things that stands out immediately is the absence of negative attitudes toward the homeless. In fact, during the Golden Age of animation, creators seemed to have had a real affinity for the poor and unhoused, often placing their most iconic characters in that role. There’s a wonderful 1948 Warner Bros. short called “Riff Raffy Daffy,” in which Daffy Duck is looking for a place to sleep—first on a park bench, then a trash can, and finally a furniture display in a shop window—and has to dodge the harassment of the police, as represented by Porky Pig in a little blue uniform. (Literally, the cop is a pig!) Or, in the 1950 cartoon “Homeless Hare,” Bugs Bunny’s rabbit hole is destroyed by a new construction project, leading him to unleash his usual slapstick mayhem against the developers until they put it back. In these cartoons, homelessness is something inflicted on people by outside forces—gentrification and the real estate business, in Bugs’ case—and something which can be successfully resisted. Even Disney cast a homeless dog as a romantic lead in 1955’s Lady and the Tramp, contrasting Lady’s sheltered naivety with Tramp’s superior knowledge of the world. The title invokes the memory of Charlie Chaplin’s “Tramp” films, which similarly brought dignity and humanity to the role of a homeless man. (Bugs Bunny, too, takes inspiration from Chaplin, and multiple Warner animators have drawn him as the Tramp.) In 1961, Hanna-Barbera’s profoundly underrated Top Cat followed the adventures of a gang of wisecracking Manhattan alley cats, who, like Daffy, are always outwitting a meddling policeman. At worst, classic cartoons may trivialize the suffering and danger associated with homelessness—there’s a certain recurring image of the carefree hobo carrying a bindle, which paints the whole subject in a romanticized light—but the homeless themselves are rarely disparaged or made the butt of the joke. Quite the opposite. 

It took a few years, but cartoons caught up to the Reaganite turn. In episodes from the ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a palpable shift in the way homeless characters appear compared to earlier decades. The perspective is different: we’re now seeing them through the eyes of comfortably housed characters, rather than their own. Often they don’t even get proper names. [...] This trajectory leads us, perhaps inevitably, to SpongeBob SquarePants. [..] Squidward gets accused of stealing a dime by his comically greedy boss, Mr. Krabs, and quits his job in a fit of outrage. We then flash forward to see Squidward, now bedraggled and unshaven, living in a cardboard box on the street and begging for change. [...] Mercifully, the ever-cheerful SpongeBob gives Squidward a place to stay—but the moment he’s safely off the street, Squidward turns from a sympathetic victim of circumstance into a lazy, entitled freeloader, straight out of a Reagan speech. He makes no effort to find work and loafs around SpongeBob’s house for ages. [...] Eventually, an exasperated SpongeBob writes “GET A JOB” in his alphabet soup, before shoving him (bed and all) back to work at the Krusty Krab. [...] Worst of all, though, the episode suggests that homelessness can be solved on an individual basis if the people in question simply stop being lazy and “GET A JOB.” This is the biggest myth of all. In 2021, a statistical analysis by the University of Chicago found that 53 percent of people in homeless shelters, and 40.4 percent of unsheltered people, do have jobs. The problem is that their wages are too low, and rents are too high. According to statistics from the same year, it’s impossible for someone working a full-time, minimum-wage job to afford a single-bedroom apartment in 93 percent of U.S. counties, and there are no states in which someone can rent a two-bedroom space on the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In other words, homelessness has little or nothing to do with personal responsibility, or lack thereof. It’s a consequence of large-scale economic decisions made by landlords and bosses. [...]

— Alex Skopic